Suppose you have worked at this. And suppose you have this right, or at least close. What next?

Show Them The Good Stuff

The next step is to quickly reveal what is available on site and why each segment matters. There must be a promise of complete information, and this promise must be kept. A page of banners, by contrast, will never work.

The Contrary View In Place

For some time now I've wanted to get into a hobby-type thing to give my days a better balance. I tend to just keep working, unless I build in alternate fun things of some kind or another.

Then it hit me. I love growing stuff. But where I live, this means a greenhouse to keep out gophers, rabbits and especially deer. So I went surfing, something I seldom do.

Thoroughly excited with idea, I fired up computer, went to AltaVista, and entered, "hot house" + plants. Not best starting place, but hey, I was seriously surfing for something I had never before tried to find on Web. A glance at first 10 listings showed I had wrong key word. The fourth item caught my attention.

"Your #1 Stop for old fashion Cottage Plants, once your Grandmother used to grwow."

An Odd Happening

I'm by nature a thoughtful, somewhat introspective fellow. So I was taken by surprise by feelings that washed over me in looking at above listing. "Who heck is this joker? Two misused words in site description that a spell checker can't find. Maybe "grwow" is a word, but I don't recognize it. Does this clown know anything? Am I really expected to click on this nonsense?"

Note lack of reason in my response. Which was frustration that converted to anger so quickly I did not notice change. "Who heck are you, wasting my time like this?" I muttered out loud. And instead of thinking things over, which is my usual mode, I plunged on with an aggressive demanding attitude I don't recall ever having before.

Next Stop: Greenhouse

Mostly greenhouse effects regards planet. Of no interest at all. (Well, sure. Critical stuff. But not just then.) So I tried greenhouses (plural). Better. So AltaVista sees plural as different from singular. I decided to try to remember that, but knew I wouldn't.

A furious scan of descriptions followed. I clicked on those that seemed promising. On every third one I hit back button, for site didn't seem to want to load.

Site after site was lovely. Virtually all were catalog operations. Lots of pictures with options for bigger ones. And lots of "Add To Cart" buttons. But little information about much of anything. I'm going to spend $500 to $5000 based on a picture? Has everybody lost their mind?

Shutting Down

I was surprised when I glanced at clock. I had "visited" over 50 sites in less than 45 minutes. This may be essence of surfing to many. Frankly, it's first time I recall "attacking" a topic in such fashion.

If you really have it, you won't be able to forget it if asked to do so. Pictures in our minds are simply too powerful to be erased on command.

We Think In Pictures

If I ask you what you had for breakfast, you'll bring up a memory of your plate, then tell me what you ate as you "watch" yourself doing so. While some think in abstract, just sort of rattle off a list, most of us will picture ourselves eating breakfast, then hold that image long enough to answer question.

If I ask what you did last summer vacation, and you had a great, fun-filled time, you may become so overwhelmed with pictures, you kind of shrug, maybe grin, then say something inane like, "I had a real good time."

But if I can get you to talking about that vacation, pictures will roll out in front of you one by one, and you'll describe them in grand detail. Swimming in ice cold stream. How that sudden thunder shower forced you to dash for cover. About campfires, and very long tales shared over coals. And that bear. That for sure is something you'll remember!

Now if I ask what your three favorite websites are, what's going to happen? Are you likely to rattle off URLs? Or will you first remember image of site, then maybe plug in that URL? For most, it's latter. Because we think, and remember, in pictures.

The Image Of Your Website Must Be Memorable

To degree possible, you want image of your site to remain as clear in your visitor's mind as that ice cold stream, that sudden thunder shower, campfires, and that bear.

Three elements need to be blended with precisely proper mix to make this happen.

1) The headline and subheadings must bring a quick answer to your visitor's question: What's in this for me? And, of course, they must demonstrate, almost in a glance, that there is in fact something here of great value to them. To degree these collective elements create a positive mental image of your offer, they contribute powerfully to your site.

2) The body copy under each subheading must also draw a great picture. In this case, a "picture" of benefits to visitor. Seek to create an image for your visitor in which he or she can see themselves enjoying this benefit.